‘EMPWR to make a change’ week one and two.. 

Week one: 📚Paige shared with the students her experiences through school, struggles growing up and how poor behaviours, lifestyle and trauma caused me to getting kicked out of school an college, which almost ruined her future. 

💁🏼‍♀️She spoke to them about the impact of what poor choices around behaviour, who you spend your time with, your actions and poor eating habits can have both on your success as well as mental and physical health. 

👩🏼‍💻They discussed their goals in life, jobs they want, who they aspire to be and things they want to achieve both in school and after school. (Something we will look further into in week four).

🍬Finally they discussed the impact of a high sugar diet can have on your mood, energy, concentration in school as well as mental and physical health. Paige showed them the sugar content in four different snack items compared to what our recommended daily intake is.

Week two: 👟We took a visit to the EMPWR gym where we discussed the basics on fuelling our body, the basics of calories & importance of eating enough (and enough of the right foods). 

🏃🏼‍♀️The students then took part in a warm up where the girls had to run and sort food groups (on post it notes) into sections and decide which was a protein, a fat and carbs. 

We talked through the benefits of each food group and sorted out the answers collectively. 

🏋🏼‍♀️We completed two circuits with a mix of strength and high intensity training, finished with the girls creating their own circuit to finish. 

Great start for the first couple of weeks with our new group at Bloxwich Academy.

Bloxwich Academy would like to celebrate the graduation of the Year 10 Scholars Club pupils. Since beginning the project in October, these pupils have worked incredibly hard, with a PHD lecturer. They have attended lectures, had tutorials, completed independent research and submitted a 2000 word final assignment on the use of Stem Cells to heal.

On Tuesday 24^th February, pupils were invited to attend their graduation event at Manchester University. During the day, pupils took part in a feedback session in a lecture theatre, gained insights into life at university, met university ambassadors and took part in a tour of the campus.

To end the day, pupils were presented with their graduation certificate and congratulated for their hard work, resilience and achievements during the Scholars Club Programme.

Well done to you all.

Today’s session was all about helping students move from “I like this idea” to “I’m ready to take my next step.” They explored careers that match their strengths, learned how to break big goals into small actions, and built confidence in planning their future.

Students matched their skills to real pathways, created a personalised “Future Steps Plan,” tackled common barriers, and finished by generating smart questions for their upcoming university visit.

Our reading rewards vending machine continues to be a focal point of our weekly Friday lunchtime celebrations, with pupils from all year groups being recognised for a range of achievements. These include demonstrating our Bloxwich Values, representing the school, and attending extra-curricular clubs.

• Daniel. Year 7 - persistently upholding Bloxwich values

• Eliana. Year 8 – self-motivated to achieve throughout all lessons

• Emily-Jayne. Year 9 - makes a valuable contribution in lessons and to school life around the academy

• Leyton. Year 10 - makes valuable contribution in lessons

• Godfred. Year 11 - persistently self-motivation to achieve and understanding to others as one of our school prefects

Pupils in KS3 and KS4 were having a great time in badminton club. This club is mainly for some fun game play, but also looking at improving and mastering the key skills used in badminton. Well done for the following pupils for taking part:

Chelsie-leigh, year 9

Ubay, year 9

Ellis, Year 9

Leah, Year 9

Ruby-lea, year 9

The Secondary School Breakfast Club provides students with a welcoming space to start the day positively. Open before the start of lessons 7.45 AM-8.30 AM, the club offers a breakfast alongside a calm, friendly environment where students can socialise, do an activity, complete homework, or simply prepare for the school day ahead. The Breakfast Club supports students’ wellbeing by ensuring they have access to, breakfast helping to improve concentration, punctuality, and readiness to learn.

Staff supervision ensures a safe and inclusive atmosphere, and all students are encouraged to attend.

On Monday 2^nd and Tuesday 3^rd February, Bloxwich Academy welcomed Saltmine to perform their show “Ignite”. This was followed by a workshop to discuss, ask questions and develop students understanding about the content of the show.

The focus of the performance was to support pupils with understanding the pressures surrounding their lives and the impact these can have on their mental health. Pupils were presented with a physical theatre and visual storytelling which reflected real life stories. They followed the lives of three teenagers as they battle anxiety, depression and doubts about their own self-worth.

Pupils were taught how to acknowledge and their identity and self-worth, know how to nurture positive mental health and be equipped with strategies and support networks to reach out if required.

During and after the performance, pupils were signposted to support in and out of school including Childline, Young Minds and The Mix

Details of our RSHE Policy can be found on our website. This content is now statutory and forms a key part of our provision at school. Should you have any queries, please contact Miss Williamson at postbox@bloxwichacademy.co.uk.

Our first Generating Genius – STEM Like Us mentoring session took place today, and it was an inspiring start to the programme. Students spent their 1 to 1 sessions exploring the wide range of career paths within STEM, reflecting on their own strengths and skills, and beginning to build meaningful relationships with their mentors. The conversations laid a strong foundation for future planning, setting them up to dive deeper into goal setting in Session 2. All the students engaged brilliantly and, even after the session ended, many chose to stay behind to continue exploring career ideas, colleges, universities, and apprenticeship opportunities sparked by their mentor discussions. A fantastic start to the journey!